Every ancient town has a City God Temple, and Lili Ancient Town in Suzhou is no exception. However, this City God Temple in Lili Ancient Town is a bit special. It is not only a City God Temple, but also has two names: Yihu Daoyuan and Zhaoling Temple. Daoyuan Lake Daoyuan is related to the Autumn Festival in the ancient town, while Zhaoling Temple is related to Li Ming, the 14th son of Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty. Let me tell you the specific details slowly.

This monastery is located on an island in the center of the lake in the ancient town of Lili, which originated from the ancient autumn ceremony. Most of the natural and artificial landscapes around the lake are related to autumn festivals. Zhaoling Temple is built on a small island with more than six acres in the center of Xihu Lake. It is also known as Xihu Dao College. There is a small bridge connected to the bank in the west, called Qiuxi Bridge. Around the Mid-Autumn Festival in August every year, the bright moon hangs in the middle of the sky, which is one of the eight scenic spots in Lichuan, the "Autumn Moon on Xihu". This scene is still well preserved.

In the past, the Autumn Festival was held in Xihu every year, and this was the only place for autumn festivals in Jiangnan. This kind of festival existed as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and was very popular in the Jin Dynasty. There are two kinds of ceremonies to repair weddings: spring weddings and autumn weddings. The Lanting Collection organized by 43 literati and literati of Shaoxing, including Wang Xizhi, was for the Spring Festival and can be said to be a household name. The festival is celebrated in Lili in autumn. The Chronicles of Lili "written and compiled by Xu Dayuan in the 10th year of Jiaqing (1805) of the Qing Dynasty records the five classics of Xu Shitai's" Autumn Xi Bridge Watching the Moon ". Among them, there is the sentence" repairing Xi is passed down to spring, and my hometown is in autumn ", which clarifies that the ceremony of repairing Xi in Lili will be held in autumn.

I don't know if there is still an Autumn Festival, but according to local friends, Lili Autumn Festival is mainly a bathing festival. Organized by wizards, participants took a bath and dressed up and went to Xihu in the afternoon to meet. Most of them walked, and some also hired pleasure boats, carrying silk and bamboo, and carrying wine and vegetables. The wizard prepared many kinds of herbs and cooked them on the spot. Some were scattered to the frail and sick, and let the sick go home to take a bath in fragrant soup to strengthen their body; some were given to young women who were eager to seek children, and also bathed in fragrant soup to drive away evil spirits and pregnant children.

There are many events on the Autumn Festival. For local lovers, it can also be called Valentine's Day. Of course, young men and women are indispensable to play in the water, splash in the water, and have fun. More of them are "the moon is on the tip of the willows, and the people are on the evening." For cultural people, the Xihu Flowing Wine Festival will also be held during the Autumn Festival, and most literati and scholars go there with wine. There are many lake rocks on the bank of Xi Lake, winding and winding. The wine carriers play with the winding water, that is, they put the glass in the water and let the glass flow in its twists and turns, and whoever stops in front of them can drink. In addition to wine glasses, Lilii literati also served snacks such as eggs, mooncakes, and red dates in small plates and drifted with the water. They were very elegant.

In addition to Xihu Dao College, the building on this small island in the lake has another name: Zhaoling Temple. It is said to be the only place in the whole of Jiangnan to worship the prince of the Tang Dynasty. This prince was the Marquis of Zhaoling and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty at that time Li Ming, the fourteenth son of Li Shimin.

Legend has it that in the last year when Li Ming, Marquis of Zhaoling, served as the chief of the Suzhou army, there was a locust plague in Suzhou. A black mass of locusts covered the sky, and the crops suffered a locust plague, and no crops were harvested. Li Ming was eager to love the people, so he opened the official warehouse to release food to relieve the victims. However, because this matter was not reported in time, someone reported a copy of it, and an official warehouse was privately opened and was beheaded according to the laws of the Tang Dynasty. When Li Ming learned the news, he thought: It would be too difficult for the emperor to deal with it. If you don't kill it, there is an illegal order; if you kill it, my father couldn't bear it, so he resolutely threw himself into the water.

Later, Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty learned that he had no choice but to do anything. Later, during the reign of Empress Wu, most of the elderly in the Li Tang royal family were killed, and most of the young were reduced to official slaves. Li Ming's three sons, Li Jun, King of Lingling, and Li Jie, Duke of Li, were all killed during the Chuigong period. His youngest son, Li Bei, hid among the people and barely survived. Later, Zhongzong Li Xian restored the Tang Dynasty. During the Shenlong Period (705-706), he found Li Bei and made him the heir to the throne of Cao. Only then did Li Ming's line continue. In the first year of Jingyun (710), Li Dan, Emperor Ruizong of the Tang Dynasty, came to power and ordered Li Ming's coffin to be transported back to the capital and buried with it in Zhaoling, posthumously titled "Gong". In the second year of Kaiyuan (714), Xuanzong Li Longji issued an order to build a temple for his great-uncle Li Ming.

The Zhaoling Temple in Lili Ancient Town was built in the Tang Dynasty. It was a temple used by the people of Lili at that time to commemorate Li Ming, Marquis of Zhaoling, so it was called Zhaoling Temple. Later, it was rebuilt during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. It was built and added in successive dynasties. The scale was the largest during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty. In addition to the current main buildings, there are also facilities such as a theater, Huanbi Hall and Wangchun Pavilion. Because of the local tradition of displaying treasures during the Mid-Autumn Festival, there are also a large number of jade, antiques, calligraphy and paintings collected in the Taoist courtyard.

In the Yuan Dynasty, local people recognized Li Ming as the city god who protected the water and soil of the area. Therefore, the Zhaoling Marquis Temple was commonly known as the City God Temple at that time. In the third year of Yuanzhen of the Yuan Dynasty (1296), Wujiang, where Lili was located, was promoted to County. In the third year of Dade (1299), the Zhaoling Marquis Temple was renovated into Yanqing Zhaoling Temple.

According to relevant documents in "Li Li Zhi", there is "Xihu Autumn Lantern Ci" written by Chen He, which proves that "When the City God Games started in the Yuan Dynasty, Kunming never knew about the fire. (During the Jiashen period of the Ming Dynasty, the sea was bustling, but only Jiangzuo was there. Our hometown was still busy.) The scenery outside the world and the world are protected by thousands of clouds." The first line of Chen He's poem clearly tells future generations that the Yuan Dynasty of Lili City God Society had begun, and the City God Temple at that time was also the Zhaoling Temple we see now.

Zhaoling Temple was built and destroyed several times, and was rebuilt and expanded many times. During the Song Dynasty, Zhaoling Temple was the only inheritance place of the Quanzhen Taoism in Suzhou. In the first year of Xianchun of the Song Dynasty, Taoist priest He Weiyi built the Quanzhen Taoism courtyard on the north side of the Daling Bridge in Lili. Since then, it was rebuilt in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. In the eleventh year of Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, Taoist Shi Qice and Xie Chaoming, a villager, rebuilt the main hall of Quanzhen Daoyuan. In the ninth year of Shunzhi, Shi Qice was still the same one. He presided over the reconstruction of the City God Temple. After liberation, Zhaoling Temple became a warehouse for the local grain department, with buildings such as the main hall, side hall, and financial temple. In 1998, the Lili Town Government allocated 2 million yuan to restore buildings such as the Lady Hall, the Yuan Temple, and the Autumn Xi Bridge, excavated the Xi Lake, built stone revetment, and basically restored the overall view of Zhaoling Temple.

In the secluded Lili, not only can you admire the ancient towns in the Jiangnan water town, but also many ancient buildings and bridges. A small Zhaoling Temple actually contains so many stories that are easy to read and reminisce about. When we came here, there were almost no tourists here, so it was really a quiet place to find peace in the hustle and bustle.